Twitch has announced that, roughly 3 years after launch, it has been acquired by internet retail behemoth Amazon for approximately $970 million.
Twitch CEO, Emmett Shear, has explained that the Twitch team chose to greenlight the Amazon deal because of the firm's belief in Twitch's values, long-term vision, and community.
According to Shear, Twitch's day-to-day operations won't be affected, with the company keeping the same office, employees, and, most importantly, its independence.
Perfect partners
Shear has issued a personal thanks to Twitch's devoted community, who he believes have been integral in making the Amazon deal a reality.
“I personally want to thank you, each and every member of the Twitch community, for what you’ve created,” said Shear, via Twitch's official blog.
“Thank you for putting your faith in us. Thank you for sticking with us through growing pains and stumbles. Thank you for bringing your very best to us and sharing it with the world. Thank you, from a group of gamers who never dreamed they’d get to help shape the face of the industry that we love so much.
“Together with you, we’ve found new ways of connecting developers and publishers with their fans. We’ve created a whole new kind of career that lets people make a living sharing their love of games.
“We’ve brought billions of hours of entertainment, laughter, joy and the occasional ragequit. I think we can all call that a pretty good start.
“It’s dangerous to go alone. On behalf of myself and everyone else at Twitch, thank you for coming with us.”
[source: Twitch]